Paper currency tapered in thickness



Jan. 30, 1968 P. H. LONG 3,366,531

PAPER CURRENCY TAPERED IN THICKNESS Filed Jan. 14, 1964 INVENTOR. PHIUP H. LONG ATTORNEK United States Patent 3,366,531 PAPER CURRENCY TAPERED IN THICKNESS Philip H. Long, 4885 Lakehurst Lane, Bellevue, Wash. 98004 Filed Jan. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 337,564 1 Claim. (Cl. 161-116) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Paper currency and stock therefor which tapers lengthwise uniformly in thickness so that the thicker end is from one-and-a-quarter times to twice as great as the thickness of the thinner end.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a special type of paper stock to be used only for currency which would be very difficult to duplicate, while at the same time being easy to produce.

A further object is to provide such paper stock which can be printed without difiiculty in the usual way, although adjustment of the printing equipment may be required.

Still a further object is to provide currency printed on stock sufliciently tapered in thickness to enable such taper to be detected readily by feel without visual inspection of the currency, yet which taper is not sufficiently pronounced to interfere with manual or machine handling of such currency in customary ways.

The foregoing objects can be accomplished by utilizing stock for paper currency which tapers uniformly from one edge to the opposite edge. Preferably such currency is of rectangular shape and may be of the conventional size of United States paper currency. The stock of such currency tapers preferably from one end to the other so as to provide the greatest contrast in thickness with the least change in thickness over any given increment.

FIGURE 1 is a top perspective of a piece of paper currency embodying the present invention with the indicia shown in phantom and FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section through such currency taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1.

In the past, paper currency has been printed on special paper, such as paper stock containing random blue and red silk threads, for the purpose of deterring counterfeiting and facilitating identification of counterfeit currency. A difficulty has been, however, that such colored threads have not been readily visible and it has been necessary to pause and concentrate attention on the paper stock in order to detect such threads. Such attention takes time. Also it is well known that serial numbers on counterfeit currency frequently are poorly printed and that portraits on such currency are often dull with poor detail or 0&- color. Again, however, it is necessary to give rather close visual attention to currency in order to detect such defects.

Bills of large denomination warrant more careful examination than bills of lower value because the loss is greater if a large denomination bill is counterfeit. For that reason counterfeit bills most often are of ten-dollar and twenty-dollar denominations because it is felt that bank tellers and cashiers usually cannot afford the time to examine each such bill critically, especially if one or two counterfeit bills are slipped in a bunch of bills. Also, however poor the appearance of a counterfeit bill may be, it is extremely difficult to detect the lack of authenticity of such a hill where the light is poor, such as in fashionable restaurants, taverns and taxicabs, for example.

Heretofore it has been virtually impossible to detect counterfeit paper currency simply by feel alone; and, con- 3,366,531 Patented Jan. 30, 1968 sequently, no matter how bad the printing may be, a blind person or a person with poor eyesight has been unable to detect counterfeit paper currency. The feel of genuine paper currency is far from uniform. When such currency is new it is crisp and crackly; whereas after it has been in circulation for an extended period of time, it becomes limp. Consequently, paper currency varies widely to the touch.

Another problem has been to provide paper currency changing machines or counters which could detect counterfeit currency.

The paper currency stock of the present invention has a distinctive feel as compared to other paper stock because it is of progressively varying thickness from one portion to the other. The representative sample piece of paper currency 1 shown in the drawings tapers from one end to the other in thickness. Paper is defined as sheets @5 inch or thinner in Websters Third New International Dictionary. The profile of such sample is of rectangular shape which may conveniently have the same proportions as current paper currency so that such currency can be carried conveniently in wallets of the same size and can be handled by present change-making machines or currency-counting machines. Since the bill I is of rectangular shape, it is preferred that the taper be from one end of the bill to the other. As shown in FIGURE 2, the end 2 of the bill has a thickness A which is less than the thickness B at the end 3 of the bill. The amount of such taper can vary, but preferably the thickness B is from one-and-one-quarter times to twice as great as the thickness A.

Thus while the currency sample 1 tapers progressively from end 3 to end 2 uniformly, it is preferred that the thickness crosswise of the bill be uniform at any particular location lengthwise of the bill. The taper of the bill in thickness is of greatest importance along the longitudinal edges 4. The fingers of most people are quite sensitive in detecting variation in thickness by touch. It is very difficult to train a person to detect an absolute thickness value as with a micrometer, but a change in thickness can readily be detected, both by touch and visually. It is not necessary to detect such a difference both by touch and visually.

In the manufacture of such tapered stock paper currency, it is further important that the taper in thickness always be related in the same way to the printed matter of the currency. The printing presses can therefore be adjusted to provide a sharp impression despite the lack of uniformity in thickness. Consequently, one end of a stack of such bills would be considerably thicker than the other end of such stack, but the difference in such thickness should not be great enough to cause any difficulty in stacking bunches of bills or in such bills being handled by paper currency-changing machines or counting machines. Large quantities of paper currency can be banded in relatively small packs and stacked with the corresponding ends of adjacent packs in reversed relationship so that the total height of opposite ends of a pile of such bills would be approximately the same.

Also the difference in thickness between opposite ends of such a tapered bill would not be great enough to be objectionable if the currency were banded or stacked at random rather than with the printed matter on the bills corresponding in relationship in every instance. If such bills were simply selected at random and placed together, it would be expected to have approximately half of the currency oriented in one sense and the other half oriented at degrees. The aggregate thickness of the bills at one end of the stack would be approximately equal to the aggregate thickness of the bills at the other end of such stack.

Paper stock for currency having a tapered thickness of the type described would be manufactured on special paper-making machines by which the degree of taper of the paper stock as well as the thickness can be controlled accurately and produced economically in quantities. It would be extremely difficult, however, to make such paper economically in small batches. Consequently it is very unlikely that counterfeiters would have the ability or the equipment to produce such tapered paper stock.

It is contemplated that the same general type of printing mechanism can be used to print currency on tapered paper stock as on paper stock of uniform thickness, but it may be necessary to provide special adjusting mechanism to obtain printing of uniform density or intensity. It would be difficult to adjust printing mechanism accurately for this purpose. Consequently, even if counterfeiters could obtain paper stock tapered in thickness for the purpose of printing counterfeit currency, it would be much more diflicult for the counterfeiters to print a passable impression on such stock. Almost invariably the impression would be lighter at the thinner end than at the thicker end so as to afford an additional visual check for counterfeit currency which is not now available.

For the reasons discussed above, therefore, it is believed that the detection of counterfeit paper currency would be much easier if genuine paper currency utilized paper stock tapered from one edge to the other of the type described above.

I claim as my invention:

1. Paper stock for currency comprising a piece of paper having a thickness not greater than .006 of an inch, which piece of paper is tapered in thickness from one thick edge portion to an opposite thin edge portion, the thick edge portion being from one and one-quarter times to two times the thickness of the thin edge portion, which degree of taper is perceptible to the touch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 326,678 9/1885 Seedhouse 273-152.1 1,384,290 7/1921 Wichenbaugh et al. 1l7-152 886,912 5/1908 Young et al. 161-116 1,296,114 3/1919 Perry 161'-116 MORRIS SUSSMAN, Primary Examiner. 

